Palmer smiled, her own heart feeling warm and light. She liked making Beau happy.
Once they were finished with the piggies, they carefully handed them back to Reese and walked over toward the next pen.
Reese gestured toward the single animal in the pen. “This is Ryan Goosling.”
A big gray goose came running, honking the whole way.
Palmer laughed as he waddled through the pen. She felt like Ryan Goosling was a mischievous goosie.
“Can I pet him?” Palmer asked.
“Absolutely. He loves pets!”
Palmer took a step toward the goosie and immediately stepped in something slick.
“Gross, mud,” Palmer said, picking up her foot. Only… it wasn’t mud. Palmer stared at her shoe in horror. “It’s… poop,” she whispered.
Ryan Goosling honked loudly, as if he thought the whole situation was very funny. Palmer knew he was naughty!
“It’s okay, pretty baby. We can…”
But before Beau could finish his sentence, Palmer did something she’d never done in her entire life before. She screamed.
Beau immediately scooped her up bridal-style. “It’s okay, baby. We can clean your shoe. It didn’t get on you, just the shoe.”
But Palmer was too panicked to hear his soothing words. She kicked her foot wildly, trying to shake the shoe off. Instead, she shook poop everywhere.
“Aughhhhhh!” she screamed again.
“There’s a handwashing station over here!” Reese called, already running ahead of them.
“I didn’t escape my abusive foster home,” Palmer cried dramatically, throwing her hand over her face. “I died there. This is clearly hell!”
If she hadn’t been so focused on her misfortune, she might have noticed the thick laughter in Beau’s voice.
“This isn’t hell, baby,” he said. “It’s just a farm and unfortunately you got the full farm experience.”
Beau carried her to the sink and set her carefully on the wooden area around the basin. He slipped the offending shoe off her foot while Reese quickly rinsed it under the running water.
Then Beau cupped Palmer’s cheeks in his hands so she had to look at him.
“It’s okay, baby. See? We’re getting it all clean.”
Palmer’s lip trembled. “It will never be okay again,” she wailed. “There was poop on it.Poop!”
“Palmer, would you like a pair of farm boots? Like mine?” Reese asked, pointing to her own boots.
Palmer sniffed loudly.
“They do get kinda dirty,” Reese continued, “but they’re rubber, so you can wipe them right off. And they go high up your legs so your socks and pants don’t get messy.”
“Please?” Palmer asked, wiping her eyes.
“I have an extra pair in the shed. Wait right here and I’ll be back, okay?”
“Thank you.” Palmer sniffed again.
Beau pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Daddy will get you another pair of shoes,” he promised.